<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Emotionally Blind by STARSdidathing</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25025116">Emotionally Blind</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/STARSdidathing/pseuds/STARSdidathing'>STARSdidathing</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Developing Relationship, Emotional Constipation, Feels, Fluff, Fluffy Ending, Hopeful Ending, Loki &amp; Tony Stark Friendship, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, M/M, Misunderstandings, Oblivious Tony Stark, Pining Loki (Marvel), Post-Avengers (2012), Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Is Not Helping, Unspecified Setting, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 07:34:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,548</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25025116</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/STARSdidathing/pseuds/STARSdidathing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony overhears that Bruce likes him and panics. He runs to the only person who might be able to help him: Loki. Only, he probably should have taken greater care over <i>how</i> he described the problem of a 'pining friend' to the mage.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Loki/Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>532</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Emotionally Blind</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tony wasn’t good at emotions. It was a fact. He knew how to read emotional cues when it came to getting people into bed and securing business deals. The rest of the time, he flailed and outright <i>failed</i> to understand what was happening.</p><p>He was better with his machines. </p><p>It was why it was miraculous he’d managed to not only gain but hold on to a number of friends. He had his Rhodey Bear, the sweet, sunshine Pepper Potts, the unflinching Happy Hogan as well as his Science Bro Bruce and his genius mage Lokes.</p><p>Everything was going so God damn well.</p><p>Until he overheard a conversation between Bruce and Pepper. Bruce was asking Pepper for advice on him. On <i>dating</i> him. </p><p>Tony froze in the hallway, panic flooding him and making him flee as quickly as possible.</p><p>Bruce liked him. <i>Bruce</i>. It was unexpected and terrifying.</p><p>When Pepper’s feelings had been revealed, he’d been surprised and coming off a bad kidnapping. He was <i>perhaps</i> a little desperate for something more than the empty life Yinsen had pinpointed. While he <i>had</i> fallen in love with her, it still hadn’t worked. He loved her, but they were far better off as friends. He was glad they’d both realised that early on and could call it quits.</p><p>This though, this was something different and <i>not</i> what Tony wanted in any way, shape or form. He adored Bruce but only as a friend. How the hell was he meant to let the guy down?</p><p>Tony had no idea. He wasn’t good at this. When emotional situations overwhelmed him, he ran to his friends. Rhodey was on base, Pepper and Bruce were clearly <i>out</i>, Happy would probably recommend boxing and he didn’t think it would help, and that left <i>Loki</i>.</p><p>Tony ducked into the elevator and hit the button for Loki’s floor. </p><p>It seemed to take forever for him to arrive. He burst out of the elevator and all but ran to the door. He knocked rapidly and hoped the mage was there. He could ask JARVIS, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear that JARVIS <i>approved</i> of him and Bruce getting together.</p><p>Why else wouldn’t JARVIS warn him about the conversation?</p><p>Loki yanked the door open with a glare.</p><p>“I was reading a complicated magic text, Anthony. <i>What</i> is it?”</p><p>“I need to talk to you,” Tony said.</p><p>He didn’t know what was on his face or in his voice, but Loki’s annoyance immediately disappeared to be replaced by concern. He opened the door wider and gestured him inside. </p><p>Normally, Tony couldn’t get enough of visiting Loki’s rooms. They were filled with exotic and alien items from all across the universe. He wanted to pull everything apart and see how it worked. Loki rarely let him touch anything. </p><p>Today, Tony didn’t even look around, he just started pacing.</p><p>“What is it, Anthony?” Loki asked, shutting the door and coming to stand near him.</p><p>He could feel Loki’s gaze tracking him as he tried to collect his thoughts. Where did he start? What did he <i>say?</i> He didn’t want to make Bruce feel awkward or give away a secret he didn’t want to share. Bruce and Loki weren’t very close. He wouldn’t betray his Science Bro like that.</p><p>“I need advice,” Tony started. “I have a problem. I need help, Lokes.”</p><p>“What is the problem?” Loki asked.</p><p>Tony darted a glance at Loki. His brow was furrowed with concentration. Tony felt a flare of warmth, knowing Loki was giving him as much focus as he did his magic texts. People thought Loki was cold and aloof, but Tony had never understood that. Loki would stay up all night with him in the lab, keeping him company when the nightmares got too bad.</p><p>Loki would never pry if Tony didn’t want to talk, but he’d also sit beside him and listen without commenting when Tony finally broke down and started explaining. They could sit in silence for hours or have discussions that went long into the night. They could work side by side on their own separate projects and never feel or want to be alone.</p><p>Loki knew him. Loki <i>understood</i> him. He was the best person to help him with this.</p><p>“I have this…” Tony hesitated. He ran a hand through his hair. “<i>Friend</i>. God, a close friend, Lokes. But he has…” </p><p>Tony bit his bottom lip and turned away, his steps coming faster. He probably would have formed a hole in the floor if Loki hadn’t stepped in front of him and grabbed his shoulders. Tony jerked his head up and caught Loki’s soft gaze.</p><p>“What is the problem?” Loki repeated again.</p><p>“How do you reject someone without hurting their feelings?” Tony blurted out.</p><p>Loki’s eyes widened, emotions passing through them too fast for Tony to catch before his face went carefully blank.</p><p>“What?” he almost sounded winded.</p><p>“When they have,” Tony grimaced, “<i>feelings.</i> How do you…?” Tony threw his hands in the air, feeling helpless. “I don’t know what to <i>do</i>.”</p><p>Loki was starting to wince. His gaze dropped to stare at the floor. Tony frowned, not quite understanding the reaction.</p><p>Did Loki <i>know</i> about Bruce? Had he been part of it too? </p><p>Tony’s stomach sunk. He hoped he hadn’t fucked things up… but, no. Loki wouldn’t want him to be unhappy. He’d help him let Bruce down gently without making him feel bad or embarrassed.</p><p>“How do I...” Tony trailed off before firming his resolve. “How do I let him know I know without making it a <i>thing</i>, Lokes?”</p><p>Loki shut his eyes. He looked strangely pained. Was he pale too?</p><p>“Loki?” Tony asked, raising a hand to brush the other man’s shoulder.</p><p>The moment his fingers touched Loki’s shirt, the mage ripped away and turned his back on Tony. Startled, Tony pulled back his hand but left it hovering in the air.</p><p>“Loki?”</p><p>“I understand,” Loki said, his voice sharp and bitter. A stark contrast to his earlier warmth and concern.</p><p>“You… do?” Tony asked, feeling confused.</p><p>Loki gave a rough laugh. Tony had only heard that bitter, broken sound once when Loki had admitted his Jotun heritage. It was after he’d refused to return to Asgard for a celebration. He’d had a shouting match with Thor and destroyed almost an entire floor.</p><p>Later, Tony had found him sitting in the lab next to Dum-E. They’d shared a bottle of scotch and Loki had admitted about his past. The next morning, he’d had Loki teleport them to Malibu where it was summer and not a hint of ice around.</p><p>They’d spent the day on the beach and after an hour, Loki had finally started to smile.</p><p>Tony’s heart ached at hearing Loki do that laugh again now. He stepped close and placed a hand on Loki’s back. He didn’t understand what was wrong.</p><p>“Loki, I-”</p><p>“You could have spared me the... <i>theatrics</i>,” Loki hissed and for a second he sounded furious. Yet, a moment later, he slumped. “It was not your greatest idea, Anthony. Any of your comrades could have explained it was a bad approach.”</p><p>Tony still felt confused, but the gears were also beginning to turn.</p><p>“I… Loki, you…”</p><p>“I'm well aware that you aren’t...” Loki sighed, “interested. That we're only <i>friends</i>. You don't need to bother with this pathetic farce. I am well aware." He gave that same bleak chuckle. “The whole <i>tower</i> is aware, despite my attempts to conceal it.”</p><p>For the second time today, Tony was left gaping.</p><p>But, just because he was bad at <i>emotional</i> cues, it didn’t mean he was incapable of problem-solving and recognising behavioural patterns.</p><p>Specifically, that JARVIS had let him catch the conversation. That Bruce and Pepper were having it in a communal area where anyone could walk in. That <i>Loki</i> had admitted that everyone but him knew. That <i>Loki</i> liked him not Bruce.</p><p><i>Loki</i> wanted him, but unlike what he’d been led to believe about Bruce, Loki didn’t plan to confess. Loki planned to keep it hidden, assuming he would never be wanted.</p><p>And unlike the horror he’d felt at thinking Bruce liked him, Tony felt… <i>warm</i>. His heart wasn’t sinking over a friend liking him, it was racing at the prospect of something… more.</p><p>Tony wasn’t good at this, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t try.</p><p>Slowly, worried that Loki would bolt, he walked around the other man to stand in front of him. Loki wouldn’t hold his gaze.</p><p>“I thought it was Bruce,” Tony admitted gently, “not you.”</p><p>Loki’s head snapped up. His eyes widened before regret and frustration crossed his face. Tony didn’t know what made him do it, but he reached up and ran his fingers over Loki’s cheek. It was smooth and cool to the touch. He saw Loki suck in a shocked breath.</p><p>“I needed help telling Bruce I didn’t want him,” Tony admitted. “But, I don’t need that help with you.”</p><p>Loki was tense, holding Tony’s gaze with disbelief. Tony didn’t mind, it gave him time to stroke Loki’s face and marvel at the new path laid out for him.</p><p>It was like an epiphany in the lab and for the first time in his life, Tony didn’t feel nervous about being in an emotional situation he hadn’t expected.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>To my mind, in this version of things, Tony is legitimately emotional compromised almost spectrum here. He doesn't understand/register emotions and emotional cues at all. Not until he's slapped in the face with them. That's why he believed he missed it with Bruce, and doesn't even notice it with Loki until it's spelled out XD</p><p>Hope you liked it!</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>